I used to be a supporter of APC candidate Akinwunmi Ambode for the Lagos gubernatorial elections for 2015. My support was because of a personal liking for the man who smiled at me from all those posters and billboards. However, that has changed and I am now in the Jimi Agbaje’s PDP corner. You need to know why.

The first reason is that the APC will control the federal government from May 29. They will also be in the majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. From my projections, it seems they will also win more governorship positions next Saturday.

I am very worried about the implications of such a super majority for the APC. I believe that every democracy needs strong opposition to really thrive. If the APC becomes such a super majority, I fear that they would begin to take Nigerians for granted the way the PDP did for so long. Since the APC will be the dominant party it would be a great thing for the PDP to control a large state like Lagos from where they can be the voice of the opposition. That does not stop the federal government and Gen. Buhari from doing positive projects for the state, unless the APC is saying that the FG it will lead will discriminate against non-APC states.

To be sincere are you not worried about how things are going to be with APC leader Bola Tinubu pulling weight in the centre and in Lagos as well? A man who ‘Financial Times’ recently called ‘Machiavelli’, who knows how to manipulate the media and divert resources for the extension of his personal fiefdom. We need a counter check for him and his party. So Agbaje should win.

Ambode as the APC candidate of APC has professional qualification and experience as an accountant. Jimi Agbaje on the other hand belongs to an entrepreneurship background where he has founded a company, excelled as the CEO and subsequently as director of JayKay Pharmacy. An accomplished pharmacist, he held several positions in the pharmaceutical union and has vied for the position of Governor of Lagos, no less than two times.

Ambode, just like Fashola is a product of the Jagaban school of the unknown. The recent documentary on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu makes me fear what the implications of voting Ambode is. Governor Fashola did well in his first term and I wondered what happened in his second term and I figured from what I saw about Tinubu in that documentary that Fashola may have refused to play ball. What if Ambode decides to play ball and gives in to Tinubu’s every whim? Then Lagosians will be in trouble.

In Lagos, the APC collects tax indiscriminately from traders, vocational workers, professionals etc. They collect money from the toll gates in Lekki which has proven to be bad business because they have paid up to 62billion on the Lekki-Epe Expressway road and the road is not halfway complete.

The APC regime has been very elitist, with Tinubu converting The General Hospital land into estate according to the documentary and backdating the Certificate of Occcupancy of Lagos State lands to claim ownership of land in Lagos anytime he wants. Even the land where the Ikeja Mall now belongs is for him- that land originally belonged to Lagos State.

The Lagos State Polytechnic land at Ikosi was converted for commercial use for TV continental and Radio continental. What sort of governance is that? We need to try someone else who will look at Tinubu and not be under any obligation for his sake. Besides Agbaje is not beholden to any godfather in the way Ambode is. People keep referring to Bode George as his godfather. I was surprised to hear recently from an Agbaje campaign staff that George has not contributed a dime to Agbaje’s campaign since he won his primary. He doesn’t even have such wealth like Tinubu to contribute as much. So on what basis Would Agbaje be his stooge?

It’s evident that we need a new lease of life in Lagos based on this message of change. Buhari was given benefit of doubt to ensure that things work well in Nigeria, we need to give Jimi Agbaje that opportunity. Jimi like General Buhari has been attempting to serve us and we need to consider that in this season of change. We need to be wary of people that are deliberately selected by godfathers that have the state on lockdown already.

Lastly, what finally made me conclude to vote Agbaje was the outburst of the Oba of Lagos. The Oba gathered Igbo leaders because of their support for Jonathan and their impending support for Agbaje and said that they will perish in the Lagoon if they vote the way they voted last Saturday – that is voting for Jonathan.

This is a free country. What sort of desperation will make a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police say that? In Nigeria when such happens, you should know that it’s more than the credibility of the candidate. It’s the benefit of the ruling elite which constitutes the Oba of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and other APC stalwarts. It’s more than it meets the eye. I am a Yoruba man but I will vote Agbaje and make a point to the Oba that Nigeria is bigger than us all and we are one people.

Godfatherism has reached a great milking level in Lagos. We need an election of Jimi Agbaje to cut the milking of Lagos by godfathers and monarchs. Should Jimi Agbaje allow godfathers to rule him? We will vote him out in 2019 because our votes now count.

Kole Onikoyi is a political analyst. He writes from Lagos.

http://www.thetrentonline.com/opinion-now-jimi-agbaje-former-ambode-supporter/

Like i suspected no valid ppints for decamping

WOW!!!!! Nice write up
JK we know.

JK for Lagos

I read all ... well-done.

I wish all voters well.

But for me and my LCDA/LG we have decided.

CHANGE is here to stay.

big lie, why una dey deceive urself. from your posts, you are a chronic pdp follower

Lmao, all these last minute propaganda no dey work. Go and ask GEJ

foolish op.....he says I am for jk becos....APC will get too powerful
Says......jk is CEO Of corner shop
Long article........but no good reason.....he forgets bode george, obanikoro....ogunlewe....ffk...etc...I laff in okrika....

J k I know. Why does Ambode smile like a lunatic? And folds long sleeve as if he wants to do labourer work? I bet if he wins, he and tinubu will put lagos in their pockets. We need serious mind here. Not one that will be happy to be surrounded by sycophants. Who is he decieving wit the 'fake smile'? Nd the folding of long sleeves? #JKiknow

I am yet to see any Igbo man that will want to
vote for Ambode.
Yoruba votes willl be divided between Ambode
and Agbaje.
The survey I have had in the past 5days:
-Okada riders say they won't vote for APC
because Fashola seized their bikes. These
okada riders are mostly northerners.
Infact,they have had meetings concerning the
election.
-Commercial bus drivers say they won't vote
APC because agberos keep extorting money
from them
-Shop owners say they won't vote APC
because of illegal and excessive tax they pay
to government
-market women say they won't vote APC
because shopping malls built by LASG is too
expensive. Oyingbo and Suru-Alaba market
women comes to mind
Land owners/property developers say they
won't vote APC because Omonile give them
problems.
It will take a miracle for Ambode to win. I am
an APC supporter but I fear the outcome of
the governorship results in Lagos.
Someone should please tell our President elect that we voted for Buhari and not APC!
Now we are voting Agbaje and not PDP!
Meanwhile Fashola has been everywhere doing the talking. While I still love and respect him. Is Fashola running for Governor or Ambode? I won't vote anyone who can't come out to win my vote. Oops Jimi already did. I won't vote for someone who can't speak for himself. Eloquence of a bus conductor and a mere book cooker! Someone whose indigeneship has a comma!
Jaykay we know! Jaykay we want!

I strongly disagree with this writer's perspective. The truth is that, the proof of Governors Fashola and Bola Tinubu's tenures in government are pointers that the sky is the limit for Lagosians and Lagos State.

Despite Lagos' lack of proper natural resources like petroleum and a reasonably limited federal allocation from the PDP controlled federal administration, Lagos has still risen above all odds to establish herself as the hub of commercial enterprise. Even regarded by many global magazines as the fastest growing economy in the world

When Lagos’s visionary governor Babatunda Fashola took power in 2010, he enforced local tax collection–an unusual idea in Africa. That has brought Lagos billions, giving it both autonomy from the country’s corrupt government in Abuja, the capital, and new projects, like a planned rapid-transit network, a $50 billion infrastructure program that includes West Africa’s first suspension bridge, and two forthcoming power plants that will finally ease the electricity shortage and even light Lagos’s streets at night.

And who do you think was vital in implementing such commercial innovations? That's a rhetoric because the answer is beyond glaring.

On the 11th of April. I implore my fellow Lagosians to come out, with our heads held high like true Patriots and vote in Akinwunmi Ambode for continuity in our beloved Lagos State.

EKO O NI BAJE.

You cannot vote for PDP out of pity because they have lost the presidency... That is unreasonable. If an opposition will emerge it would do so because it fields qualified candidates like APGA that fields per like Willie Obiano and Alex Otti.


And it seems your reason for decamping is mainly because of a documentary that was sponsored by the PDP to paint Tinubu in a bad light. Is it because you haven't seen a documentary on Bode George and Ogunlewe?

ddaammyy:
J k I know. Why does Ambode smile like a lunatic? And folds long sleeve as if he wants to do labourer work? I bet if he wins, he and tinubu will put lagos in their pockets. We need serious mind here. Not one that will be happy to be surrounded by sycophants. Who is he decieving wit the 'fake smile'? Nd the folding of long sleeves? #JKiknow

Serious minded people like Bode George, the ex-convict, Buruji, the drug pusher, and Obanikoro, the thug, right? My friend, take twenty seats.

Tinubu saw that JK was not capable enough, that is why he gave us Fashola instead of JK when Jimi was still in ACN. Tinubu has given us another capable hand in Ambode

Jaykay we know. Jaykay we want!

The author of this post didn't get his facts right. When will PDP stop all this propaganda? Now they have divided Lagos along tribal lines. My friends, let us vote wisely. Even Jimi Agbaje knows that Lagos is working. I choose to vote AMBODE, the right man for the job.

Eko o ni baje o

Ladi4sure:
Tinubu saw that JK was not capable enough, that is why he gave us Fashola instead of JK when Jimi was still in ACN. Tinubu has given us another capable hand in Ambode

JK is ok

neenar:
Serious minded people like Bode George, the ex-convict, Buruji, the drug pusher, and Obanikoro, the thug, right? My friend, take twenty seats.

keep calm. Let's watch as everything unfolds

comos:

JK is ok

I don't want OK when I can have A+